Mercury Mystique - Problems, Statistics, and Analysis

Mercury Mystique owners have reported a total of 983 problems for their cars built in the 7 model years listed in the chart below. The chart shows the number of problems reported across all service years for each given model year of the Mercury Mystique. The 1998 Mercury Mystique cars have the most problems reported (326 problems).

Table 1. Total number of problems by model year for Mercury Mystique

Model Year Number of Problems
  2002 Mystique
3
  2001 Mystique
2
  2000 Mystique
81
  1999 Mystique
169
  1998 Mystique
326
  1997 Mystique
99
  1996 Mystique
303

🔍 Common problems of Mercury Mystique

The following chart shows the 21 most common problems for Mercury Mystique cars. The number one most common problem is related to the vehicle's engine and engine cooling (135 problems). The second most common problem is related to the vehicle's electrical system (118 problems).

Table 2. Common problems of Mercury Mystique

Problem Category Number of Problems
  Engine And Engine Cooling
135
  Electrical System
118
  Power Train
92
  Suspension
89
  Service Brakes
88
  Visibility
72
  Structure
62
  Exterior Lighting
55
  Air Bag
42
  Vehicle Speed Control
42
   
  Unknown Or Other
40
  Steering
36
  Gasoline Fuel System
35
  Equipment
24
  Seat Belt
13
  Tire
10
  Seats
10
  Interior Lighting
7
  Air Brake
6
  Other Fuel System
4
  Latches/locks/linkage
3

📉 Compare Reliability Across Model Years Using PPMY Index

It would not be fair to compare the Mercury Mystique of an older model year to newer model years since older vehicles have been in service longer and thus are expected to have more problems. In order to compare the reliability across Mystique model years, we use the PPMY index which is defined as the problems reported per thousand vehicles per Year. A smaller PPMY index indicates greater reliability of the given model year cars.

    PPMY = P / S / Y * 1000,

where P = total problems reported during the life of a Mercury Mystique model year; S = total units sold of the model year; Y = years since the debut of the model year (the age of the vehicle).

The results are shown in Table 3.

Table 3. Use PPMY Index to Compare Reliability Across Mystique Model Years

Mystique
Model Year
Problems Sales [1] Vehicle
Age
PPMY Index
  2000 8120,84322    
0.18

📊 Number of Problems Reported During the First Year

Another way to measure the reliability across the model years of the Mercury Mystique is to use the total number of problems reported during the vehicle's first year in service, as shown in the Table 4.

Table 4. Number of problems in vehicle's; first service year

Model YearProblems Reported
  2000 Mystique
1
  1999 Mystique
8
  1998 Mystique
14
  1997 Mystique
5
  1996 Mystique
17


Fuel Economy of Mystique Vehicles
Mystique Service Bulletins
Mystique Safety Recalls
Mystique Defect Investigations
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